MELBOURNE, 10 July, 2023: It’s back and will run from 11-20 August, 2023, with a platter of 100 plus movies in 20 languages.
The hybrid festival will kick off with the world premiere of the new Hindi movie, Ghoomer directed by R. Balki (Cheeni Kum (2007), Paa (2009), Pad Man (2018) and Chup: Revenge of The Artist (2022)…). Ghoomer stars Shabana Azmi, Abhishek Bachchan, Saiyami Kher and Angad Bedi. Inspired from Hungarian athlete Karoly Takacs, the first disabled athlete to reach the shooting podium in the Olympics. Ghoomer follows the story of an Indian cricketer played by Saiyami Kher, with Abhishek Bachchan as her coach.
This is IFFM’s 14th edition, incorporates screenings in cinema halls with a vibrant online program. Added to this is the ever popular dance competition, special screenings, in-person presentations, and an array of events including panel discussions. Cinema buffs have a bonanza of Indian and subcontinent offerings, the IFFM streaming platform, adding to the excitement. Mitu Bhowmick Lange, festival director, detailed the program to a select gathering of media and stake holders including prominent sponsors at the beautiful NGV Federation Square area today. Mitu laid out the festival’s categories as Hurrah Bollywood, Beyond Bollywood, Documentary, From the Subcontinent, Short Films (Official Selection) and Film India World. The IFFM Chats has the topics, Filmmaker’s Journey’s, Globalisation of South Indian Cinema, Sustainability & The Climate Crisis, Sisterhood & Storytelling and Family Violence, Mitu disclosed.
The cinema screenings will be at the Hoyts – Melbourne Central, Chadstone, District Docklands and Highpoint. The Q&A Specials at the Hoyts will take place at the Melbourne Central, Chadstone, Highpoint and District Docklands.
Mitu’s presentation at the program launch gives idea of movies that will be screened. The themes being Family, Coming of Age, Social issues, Love/Relationships, Crime/Thriller, Human Rights, Women Take The Lead and Animation.
Films From The Subcontinent includes Kukri (Pakistan) in Urdu directed by Abu Aleeha, starring Yasir Hussain and Ayesha Omar among others. Pett Kata Shaw (Bangladesh) in Bengali directed by Nuhash Humayun, stars Chanchal Chowdury and Afzal Hossain.
In the documentaries, Mitu announced, the Vinay Shukla directed documentary in English and Hindi ‘While We Watched’ on India’s famous TV personality Raveesh Kumar (formet NDTV & now Raveesh Kumar Official on YouTube) will be screened. The other documentaries at the festival include ‘To Kill A Tiger’ (Hindi & Nagpuri) directed by Nisha Pahuja and ‘Tortoise Under The Earth’ (Santhali) directed by Nuhash Humayun.
A media release from the IFFM-2023 says, ” Other program highlights include the award-winning Indian filmmaker Rima Das’s drama, Tora’s Husband, which successfully premiered at Cannes Film Festival this year and was the first Indian film to be included in the prestigious Platform section of TIFF in 2022. Set against the stunning backdrop of Assam, the film follows a family man’s life unraveling in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. From accomplished director Kanu Behl, Agra will make its Australian premiere at this year’s festival, after also preceding a world premiere at Cannes Film Festival. Behl’s feature film Agra takes an unfiltered look at sexual repression in India.”
“Fresh from Berlin International Film Festival, Marathi feature film, Aatmapamphlet (Autobio-Pamphlet) is a fast-paced comedy, which tells the twin stories of a childhood love and of momentous social change in 1990s India. Hindi feature film, All India Rank, is Varun Grover’s semi-autobiographical debut feature and is a film that diagnoses the malaise of a society where children squander their best years living their parents’ dreams and parents let their self-worth repose on their children’s achievements. After acclaimed inclusions at both Busan International Film Festival 2022 and International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2022, director Prithvi Konanur’s feature film, Hadinelentu (Seventeeners) examines the irreparable damage on the lives of two seventeen-year-olds when their selfie sex video is leaked on the internet. The award-winning documentary While We Watched, directed by Vinay Shukla chronicles the working days of infamous Indian broadcast journalist Ravish Kumar as he navigates a spiraling world of truth and disinformation. After a successful competition inclusion at Sydney Film Festival this year, Devashish Makhija’s thriller Joram, starring Manoj Bajpayee will also make its Victorian debut.”
The festival is presented by the Victorian Government via VicScreen, which is a principal partner of the festival and further cements Melbourne as a destination which celebrates India and the Indian subcontinent. The festival remains one of the most popular Indian Film Festivals outside of India and continues to celebrate diversity through cinema.
As always, IFFM this year will continue to showcase the best of cinema from this enormous industry that encompasses not only Bollywood, but a mosaic of different regions, tastes, and cultures. The festival will also continue to provide a platform to upcoming film makers through its World Remit Short Film Competition, as well as bring all the glamour and excitement of Indian cinema’s most talked about talent to Melbourne at its red-carpet event, the ANZ Plus IFFM Awards night.
Established in 2010, the festival consistently strives to program films which provide a robust forum for conversation and that enhance not only India’s rich storytelling tradition, but also looks to challenge people’s notions of this country which has emerged in recent years as the fastest-growing major economy in the world.
Tickets to the glamorous ANZ Plus Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Awards Night 2023 on August 11th are on sale now via Arts Centre Melbourne.
The festival is proudly presented by the Victorian Government via VicScreen, which is a principal partner of the festival and further cements Melbourne as a destination which celebrates India and the Indian subcontinent. The festival remains one of the most popular Indian Film Festivals outside of India and continues to celebrate diversity through cinema.
As always, IFFM will continue to showcase the best of cinema from this enormous industry that encompasses not only Bollywood, but a mosaic of different regions, tastes, and cultures. The festival will also continue to provide a platform to upcoming film makers through its World Remit Short Film Competition, as well as bring all the glamour and excitement of Indian cinema’s most talked about talent to Melbourne at its red-carpet event, the ANZ Plus IFFM Awards night.
Established in 2010, the festival consistently strives to program films which provide a robust forum for conversation and that enhance not only India’s rich storytelling tradition, but also looks to challenge people’s notions of this country which has emerged in recent years as the fastest-growing major economy in the world. Throughout August, IFFM will take over multiple key venues in Melbourne’s CBD and suburbs including the National Gallery of Victoria, Arts Centre Melbourne, and the Hoyts venues across Melbourne.
The sponsors of the festival – ANZ Plus, Hoyts, City of Melbourne, WorldRemit, La Trobe University, Blackmagicdesign, Singapore Airlines, Consulate of India, Melbourne, SBS, G’Day India, Indusage, Radio Haanji, South Asia Times (SAT) & Australia Today.
The Principal Partner of the festival – Victoria State Government/VICSCREEN.
Tickets to the ANZ Plus Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Awards Night 2023 on August 11th are on sale now via Arts Centre Melbourne.
Key Festival Dates:
Friday 11t August: IFFM Press Conference, Melbourne CBD & ANZ Plus Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Awards Night @ Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne Saturday 12th August;
Saturday 12 August: Flag Hoisting Ceremony for the 76th Anniversary Indian Independence, IFFM Dance Competition @ NGV, Melbourne & IFFM Opening Night @ Hoyts District Docklands
Sunday 13 August: IFFM Talks @ NGV, Melbourne;
Sunday 20 August: IFFM Closing Night @ Hoyts District Docklands.
Festival locations: HOYTS Melbourne Central, HOYTS District Docklands, HOYTS Chadstone, HOYTS Highpoint; National Gallery of Victoria; & the IFFM Online Festival.
All festival information – https://www.iffm.com.au/
